Aqshems Nichols is a Ph.D. Candidate in transportation engineering at UC Berkeley. Last month, Aqshems was notified that he was selected for the 2023 Dwight D. Eisenhower Fellowship Program. The fellowship awards fellowships to graduate students pursuing degrees in disciplines related to transportation to invest in the next generation of transportation professionals. As part of the program, Aqshems will be funded to attend the upcoming Transportation Research Board conference in January of 2024 happening in Washington, D.C.
Compiled by Pooja Nerkar
What is your research focus?
My research focuses on investigating more deeply the relationship between transportation access and life outcomes. Time is scarce, and the ease of reaching activities impacts the amount of time that can be devoted to those activities. Thus, it is imperative to study the intricacies of how access relates to these outcomes, the decision-making tendencies of persons facing constraints in access, and the policies that are best suited to improve access for communities given constraints in funding, resources, and implementation capacity.
What are some of the research projects you're working on right now?
In addition to my research, I have been given the opportunity to work as a student researcher at the Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC) at UC Berkeley. During my time at SafeTREC, I have worked on an array of projects stemming from an evaluation of bicycle and pedestrian safety at several intersections in the City of Emeryville, collecting and synthesizing traffic safety resources for tribal communities in California, developing short informational videos for the California Office of Traffic Safety, and a study analyzing trends in crash incidence in the City of Oakland. As a staff researcher at the Transportation Sustainability Research Center (TSRC), I performed extensive quality assurance for highly complex surveys on projects funded by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).
Can you share a little more about your educational background and future career goals?
My journey began in Milwaukee, continued in the suburbs of Austin, and has currently brought me to Berkeley. After finishing my undergraduate studies at Austin Community College and the University of Texas at Austin, I enrolled at UC Berkeley because of the research opportunities and breadth of coursework available at the university. After completing my studies, I look forward to using my education to support my professional endeavors in the field of transportation science.
